


Legacy

by DJRezYourGays



Category: RWBY
Genre: Cry with me Jacko, Gen, I will basically never be over the season 3 finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 05:18:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12698142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJRezYourGays/pseuds/DJRezYourGays
Summary: In a rare quiet moment between all the chaos at Beacon, Weiss and Pyrrha talk about destiny as they watch the leaves change and consider what the coming seasons will bring.MicroWriMo 2017Prompt: Seasons





	Legacy

The tiny white glyph spun quietly on the cobblestone as Weiss sat on a bench nearby, pouring all her focus into the admittedly meager summoning effort. The autumn wind rattled the trees all around her and a cold chill bit at the back of her neck. She ignored it as best she could, not wanting to break her focus and risk losing the summon. Again.

Over the soft scratch of dead leaves being blown across the walkway, Weiss heard the distant clack of a pair of heeled boots approaching. The sound was intimately familiar, reminding her of the marble halls back home, but the steps lacked Winter's inescapable sense of purpose. Rather, they seemed calm, aimless, taking their time in their stroll as they brought their wearer closer to where Weiss sat.

The irregular clack was finally enough to break her concentration and the small white glyph dissipated, having drawn nothing through during its brief existence. Weiss sighed, shutting her eyes to avoid letting her frustration show, before looking up to greet the approaching wanderer.

Pyrrha waved from afar, her telltale 'hello' in its familiar sing-song voice carrying easily across the empty space between them. The woman's golds and reds caused her to blend in almost too well with the approaching evening light and the turning leaves. Her easy smile and bashful posture stood in stark contrast to someone with her singular combat prowess and reputation. She remained a bit of a puzzle to Weiss.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked, pausing a few feet from the bench and glancing up at the fresh cascade of falling leaves echoing down around them.

"Of course," Weiss said, shifting to make space on the bench and taking the opportunity to straighten the front of her combat skirt to better compose herself.

Pyrrha took a seat next to her, smiling at the falling leaves.  "This was always my favorite time of year," she said. "The sounds, the smells..."

"The end of summer," Weiss added, realizing her fondest memory of fall was leaving home to come to Beacon where she could finally prove she could stand on her own - not as a Schnee, but as a huntress. The too-honest words were out of her mouth before she'd even realized it, and she glanced at Pyrrha's face to see if her companion had noticed the slip.  

But Pyrrha seemed lost in her own thoughts.  "The start of something new," she said, the bright spark leaving her voice suddenly. She fell quiet for a long moment and Weiss followed suit, listening to the wind rifle through the trees, hissing as it teased the dried leaves till hanging on by a thread.  "Do you think things ever really end?" Pyrrha said, staring at the cobblestones where all evidence of Weiss' summoning effort had long since vanished.  "Or are we just...going around in circles?"

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

Pyrrha laughed and shook her head.  "I guess it doesn't really matter," she said, narrowing her eyes as a stray thought took hold in her mind.  "Do you mind if I ask you something while we have this chance?"

Weiss sat forward, sensing the gravity of the question to come, even if she didn't quite understand what Pyrrha meant.  They went to the same school, it wasn't like they wouldn't have another chance to talk.  

"What do you think about destiny?" Pyrrha asked, staring at the spot on the cobblestones where all evidence of Weiss' failed summoning had long since vanished.

Weiss followed her eyes to the spot, feeling a weight growing in her gut.  To her, destiny was like a cage, or a yard that was fenced in.  The creature inside might feel like it had freedom to run around, but in the end, the borders of its life had already been set, and there was no escaping it.  In short, she hated the idea.

"I think...maybe I've been wrong about it all along," Pyrrha said before she could answer.  "Everyone told me I had a great destiny ahead of me.  That I was meant for great things.  But I don't think that's true."  She sighed, turning her attention back to the falling leaves as the wind picked up.  

Watching the woman as a strand of red hair fell forward to hide her eyes, Weiss realized somewhere along the way that she'd gone from envying Pyrrha to sympathizing with her.  It had never occurred to her that the star huntress might carry around the same weight that she did.  A legacy to live up to.  A high mark she could never fall short of without disappointing everyone.

"I think," Pyrrha said, getting to her feet and offering Weiss a hand, "maybe if we're really going to change things for the better, we have to learn to leave some things behind."

Weiss took her hand and joined her, still puzzled at what the woman meant, but feeling strangely lighter all the same.  Pyrrha surprised her again by pulling her into a hug, one so tight it made her arms hurt.  "Take care of Jaune for me, won't you?" she said, as Weiss felt everything go dark around them.

When she woke, Weiss could still feel the soreness in her arms.  The next thing she noticed was the scent of the smoke rising up from the wreckage of the transport.  Her head was spinning.  When she finally opened her eyes, it was to the fuzzy outline of a dark-haired woman whose familiar red eyes slowly came into focus. 

Weiss drifted in and out of consciousness as the strange woman's two goons dragged her back to their camp.  Pyrrha's words still echoed in her mind, but what the vision meant, if anything, was something she would have to puzzle out later.  Right now, she needed to get free, find her team, and get to Haven while there was still time to change things for the better.


End file.
